Education chief sees emotional support as ‘a social effort’

Lou Pak Sang, director of DSEDJ

The Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) cannot be the sole agent to eradicate the problem of student suicide, Lou Pak Sang, the head of the new bureau, hinted yesterday.
“I believe this problem will not be solved only by one single sector of the society,” Lou said. “It can only be [solved] with a social consensus to mobilize all our resources to protect our children and perform well as a gatekeeper.”
The comment was made on the sidelines of his inauguration as the director of the new bureau yesterday.
Following a recent student suicide, the government established a taskforce which involves several government bureaus, two education associations and Caritas Macau’s Life Hope Hotline, in the hopes of protecting other vulnerable members of society.
When questioned yesterday about what the taskforce is aiming to do, the education chief reiterated a statement issued over the weekend, repeating the directions it laid out regarding revamping the curricula, improving teacher-student interactions and fostering healthy parent-child relationships.
He was then challenged about the lack of progress in these aspects given the amount of time which has already elapsed. Defending himself, Lou said that various methods have been employed to change the dated philosophy which places significant emphasis on good academic performance at the expense of emotional and mental health Usually, high performances in traditionally “academic” subjects are considered the metrics for excellent students, the DSEDJ director pointed out.
“We have invested time in training teachers to see other [accomplished] facets of students,” Lou explained.
With regards to quantity of homework, Lou revealed that although work has been done, there is a constraint in terms of “educational autonomy”, meaning the government cannot interfere too extensively with a school’s teaching.
He also encouraged the public to contact the Caritas Life Hope Hotline when they feel emotionally disturbed. “It doesn’t have to be in severe conditions,” Lou stressed.